Goodnight, Goodnight
by JoMarchWrites
Summary: When a child has a nightmare, he runs to the comforting arms of his mother. In the case of young Elliot Stabler, Jr., he runs to the waiting, open arms of someone much, much more bound to him. It leads to a conversation that solidifies the answer to a question often asked, and a sweet and lovely good night. (rating for language and implications) EO One-chapter story.


_**A one-chapter tale that entered my head, and would only leave through written words.**_

_**Law and Order: SVU is the intellectual property of Dick Wolf. The use of the characters, settings, and plotlines is not malicious. This is a work of fiction.**_

The book Olivia was holding was getting heavier with every page she turned, but her head throbbed if she so much as thought about anything but the fictional world in her hands. She sighed and turned another page, part of her already knowing what was going to happen. She scoffed when her premonition came to light, the heroine of the novel falling into bed with the unrealistic Lothario the author assumed every woman wants.

"Liv?"

Her head popped up at the little voice coming from the stairs. "Hey, buddy. What's the matter?" She closed the book, not bothering to mark her current page, and tossed it onto the coffee table.

The little boy plodded over, his limp arms swaying, a stuffed bear, clutched in one hand, dragging on the hardwood. "Where's my dad?"

"Oh, honey," she said softly, lifting the child into her lap. "He'll be home soon. He's finishing up a very important case."

The boy rested his head on her shoulder and his bear-free hand swooped up around her neck. "I had a bad dream."

"I have them all the time," she told him, brushing his dirty-blonde hair out of his eyes. "Wanna tell me about it?"

"No," he shook his head. "Dad would understand more than you. No fence, Liv."

She laughed at his cute malapropism. "None taken," she chuckled. "But I think I could help."

The boy sighed and brought his teddy bear into his own lap, squishing it between his little legs and Olivia's stomach. "It was...about you."

"Me?" she asked, stunned. "Did I do something..."

"No, Liv, you weren't the monster," the boy interrupted. "But...something happened, you went away." He sniffled, trying to keep himself from crying.

Olivia closed her eyes and pulled the boy closer to her, tightening her hold on him. "Sweetie, I was there the very second you came into this world, and I promise, I am not going to miss a single moment...I'm not going anywhere."

"But Daddy..." the child stopped speaking, unsure if he could explain what he was feeling, if it even made sense outside hie own head. "You don't know like Daddy does." He closed his eyes and brought his teddy up under his chin, almost as if he was trying to inhale the bear. "What would happen to us if you left."

"I told you sweetie, I'm not leaving," she whispered, kissing the boy's forehead.

"But you could," he mumbled, half asleep. "If you want to, you could. Even if you marry my dad, you still could. But not if you make a super-secret-sacred-pinky-promise."

She laughed again, and then scooted lower on the couch so the boy could lay flat as she held him. "I super-duper-secret-sacred-pinky-promise," she said. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Well, damn, I'm glad to hear that," a voice behind her broke into her tender moment with the child, and she felt him move closer to her without looking back at him. She sighed contentedly when he kissed the back of her head. "What's wrong with Eli?"

"Nothing," she said, stroking the boy's hair. She smiled, knowing he'd fallen asleep. "He had a bad dream, that's all."

"Oh," Elliot mumbled as he walked around to the front of the couch and settled in next to Olivia. "Oh, Liv, I...I know what dream it was."

She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, he said you'd understand," she told him.

Elliot gently pulled on Eli's legs, laying him out so he could move closer to Olivia without waking his son. He wrapped an arm around her and with his other hand, he held her chin. "You're so beautiful."

"Back to the nightmare," she ordered, blushing lightly.

He laughed at her inability to take a compliment and held her chin tighter. "He doesn't want you to leave," he shrugged. "He thinks...because Kathy left..."

"Oh," Olivia cut him off. "Wow. Okay. Wow. That's why he said..."

"There's nothing stopping you, you have no permanent ties to us," Elliot told her. "But in his mind, even if you did...well, it didn't stop Kathy." He dropped her chin but he didn't let her out of his half-hug. "You were the first person he saw when he was born, Liv. He's got this bond with you that...it's like a duck. If a duck hatches and the first thing it sees is a fox, it's gonna think that fox is its mother, do you understand what I'm saying?"

"That I'm a fox?" she joked, attempting to lighten the mood.

He smirked. "Stone cold," he teased, but he sobered and looked down at his son, sleeping in his girlfriend's lap. "He saw you. Liv, before Kathy, before me, there was you. When she left, his first question...not 'where did mommy go,' not 'why did mommy leave,' but 'can we call Liv." He looked back at her. "Funny thing, he read my mind, because when it happened...you were the first person I needed, too."

"El," she started, her bottom lip caught between her teeth, "Why would he even think..."

"Something Dick said, when he was home last weekend," Elliot said, trying to brush it off. "You know, little brothers think their big brothers know everything about everything, so, of course, he believed..."

"What did he say?" Olivia was worried now. She froze at the mention of Elliot's oldest son's name, because she'd been waffling between being on his good side and his bad side for years. Somehow, the older Stabler boy just seemed to know things, and no one was ever certain if he loved her or hated her because of them.

Elliot took a deep breath and said, "He told Eli that once he was old enough, you'd leave, because you had your own life and we...we're getting in the way." He looked Olivia in the eyes. "He doesn't think you're really going to marry me. He thinks you'll get scared, because he's seen it happen before, and he thinks..."

"He's wrong," Olivia affirmed, her eyes severe. "I may not have the best track record when it comes to relationships, and my moral compass may not always point true north, but I'm in love with you, and I'm in love with your family. Your kids, all of them, have always had more of my heart than I cared to admit, and I swear to God, Elliot, I am not going any -"

The rest of her words were never born from her lips, because his had ensnared them in a searing kiss that seemed to hold a thousand apologies in its heat and a million promises in its tenderness. He pulled away slowly, unwilling to break contact with heaven. "I know," he whispered. "I know. And in a few months, everyone will know." He moved back a bit, slipped his hands underneath Eli, and lifted him up as he rose off the couch. He looked back at Olivia imploringly.

"Yeah," she said with the burn of his kiss still on her lips. "I'm coming." She walked with him up the steps, and together they settled Eli into bed, taking turns kissing his cheeks and whispering,"Goodnight."

Elliot tugged her into the bedroom that had become theirs, and he pulled her down onto the mattress. He peeled away her layers of clothing and kissed her neck and shoulders as he toed off his own pants. Once they were clad in nothing but tanned skin, he wove his body around hers and pulled their comforter up, cocooning them. He pulled her close, his hands smoothing over her curves and his lips finding bits of skin he'd felt guilty for ignoring, the spots behind her ear and just above her collarbone. "I love you," he told her over and over as his body moved over hers.

"I love you," she returned, every cell in her body echoing the sentiment.

When he had her fully ensconced in his hold, he looped one strong leg around her and whispered, "Goodnight."

She sighed into him and a slow smile spread across her lips. She would spend all of her nights like this, all of her days in his arms. She dropped a soft kiss to his chest and closed her eyes. "Goodnight."

_**Fini**_


End file.
